


the dragons don't live here

by SwordintheThrone



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Fluff, M/M, Short Chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24597934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwordintheThrone/pseuds/SwordintheThrone
Summary: been feeling real down lately...so here's all i have to give. (might add to it if i'm mopey again...)(check out my collab bsd works, those were fun to write)
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 11





	the dragons don't live here

They're six, so Merlin doesn't think too much about Arthur, other than Arthur is lots of fun.

The sun is slipping down the hills in the distance- that means he has to go in soon. He's just been sitting in the grass, long and tickly, and probably overdue for a cut. He also knows his mom's going to burst a new one when she sees the grass stains, but ha! Till he stands up and checks, he doesn't know for sure there will be any. In fact, _unless_ he stands up, there might not be one at all!

But of course _Arthur_ is sitting with him, and Arthur wants to do something different every three minutes, if only because he wants to do it all.

"Come on, Merlin!" he says, impatiently. "Let's go look for dragons!"

That sounds like fun. Merlin untucks his legs from his sitting position. And then he's up- and looked, and the dismay sets in. "Mommy's going to be so mad at me," he scrunches up his face. "She said not to get them dirty again."

Arthur comes back from where he'd already started wandering off to, too used to Merlin following without question. He cocks his head some degrees to look. "What, your pants?" Merlin nods. Arthur shakes his head. "You'll be fine. Just tell her I made you sit in the grass."

"But you didn't?" There were ants and Merlin had sat for a minute that had turned into many minutes, wondering what it was like, constantly moving your six legs, walking so much and never getting far. Arthur had sat down with him because they did things together.

"Just do it. Now can we can go on our quest!"

That works for Merlin.

But it doesn't work for Hunith- "Merlin. What did I tell you about sitting in the grass?" She stops him at the door.

Merlin opens his mouth but Arthur is faster. "Ms. Emrys, please don't get mad! It's my fault," he begs. "I asked Merlin to catch caterpillars with me."

"Well, Arthur," Hunith says. "Should I be mad at you instead?"

And just like Merlin, Arthur opens his mouth but struggles to string the right words together. "I guess," he offers. "But only if you have to!"

"Well it's a good day so I don't think I have to." She says, patting him on the hand briefly. "Your mom called to say she'll be picking you up soon. Do you want a cookie before you go? They've just come out of the oven."

"Yes, please," Arthur says, following her into the house. Merlin is bewildered, but he follows Arthur and gets a cookie too.

Good day. Weird, Merlin thinks. But good.

* * *

Merlin's magic first presents itself at eight. It isn't all that significant.

He wakes up and works through the easy day without a problem. School is fun. Arthur likes to cut dragons out of paper and passes them to Merlin. Merlin shades them flaming orange and shining gold and iridescent blue and passes them back. Arthur beams. "Look at our dragons!" he says, and waves them in his hands, making them soar all over the place. He makes loud breathey-sounds Merlin thinks are supposed to signify the winds. Merlin grins. Then Arthur decides _their_ dragons can fly at higher altitudes. Before Merlin can say a word, Arthur steps up on chair and then hopped up onto his table. 

"Arthur, dear, get down from there." Their teacher calls, trying to hurry her way over from where the other kids have encased the "dangerous witch" in a carefully built but precarious tower of blocks. 

Miss. M is always right, so Merlin opens his mouth to tell Arthur he should listen to her when Arthur decides it might be time to make a get away-- except he swings his arms, preparing to hop from their round table to the one to their left. Merlin's heart jumps in his throat when Arthur takes his leap, he doesn't even relax when Arthur's feet meet the landing and Arthur laughs in delight to himself because he's already starting to tip backwards, too much weight in heels and not even to balance. He's waving his arms now to try and regain some of it but it's not enough.

"Arthur!" Merlin reaches out-

And then it happens. 

Arthur stops tilting back, stops falling- it's almost like he's almost frozen still except he can still squeak, "Uh...Merlin?"

Without thinking about it, Merlin lowers his fingers until Arthur's stretched his toes out to meet the ground and the spell is broken. Ms. M is by his side in another heartbeat, equal halves of reprimand and relief. Merlin's trying hard to understand what he just did when he jumps. Ms.M had had her hand on his shoulder. "Sorry dear," she says, gently steering him towards her big desk. "Are you alright, Merlin?"

"Yes," he says. "What...what happened?"

She smiles at him kindly. "It looks like you've got magic."

Magic. The word echoes in his head.

Miss M. says a little more but he's lost with the whirlwind of thoughts. He's got magic.

He remember seeing news headlines. Wizards doing grand things, building buildings for the people and making art out of flames and ice and dancing with swords and directing light. His heart glows when he thinks about being one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> been feeling real down lately...so here's all i have to give. (might add to it if i'm mopey again...)
> 
> (check out my collab bsd works, those were fun to write)


End file.
